


Born To Love You

by caramelkaren



Series: Thoughts of Flight [2]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, just loads and loads of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-26
Updated: 2013-02-26
Packaged: 2017-12-03 16:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/700058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caramelkaren/pseuds/caramelkaren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One month after their kiss in Oslo, Martin and Arthur's relationship is going along better than expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Born To Love You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Cabin Crew Riot Two! Bonus Prompt: Tarot Cards (Lovers and The Fool)
> 
> Why, yes, this is a series! The second day involved a new round of cards, and hilariously enough, it involved aspects in which I was hoping to take this next if I ever wanted to continue it. I ended up not getting to include the Four of Pentacles card and its idea of holding onto something longer than is healthy (*cough* MJN *cough*) because my brain said fluff, fluff, and more fluff. But I did get to use the Fool, with its wide-eyed beginnings. This is probably my proudest fic of the whole riot, and the last one I managed to complete. I had an idea for what came next, but my computer is a dick and lost it. But yes, it's what would normally be 20 points full of fluff. But it's actually worth 40 because I used two cards, which meant double points.
> 
> And I tried to search to be sure there were no mentions of Martin actually eating Arthur's food in the show. I really hope I didn't screw up continuity there. Then again, I did throw Theresa out the window with this series hahaha
> 
> Upped the rating because mentions of sex? Yeah it probably could've been G as well.

It had been a month since Martin randomly kissed Arthur outside the airport in Oslo, and he was starting to think it was the best thing he had ever done.

Arthur actually was a much, much more amazing boyfriend than he had expected. After all, Martin had heard of the man's luck with those Pony Club types. Well, turns out those girls must have been completely insane to not have appreciated just exactly what they had.

Some mornings, Arthur would somehow sneak off the aeroplane while Martin was doing the walkround and spin him around and kiss him quite senseless. Martin was actually surprised there haven't been any failures with the plane that should've been caught. Usually all he could think of for the rest of the walkthrough wasn't looking for problems but rather just how thoroughly he was snogged. Arthur Shappey, unexpectedly perfect kisser.

Arthur always tried if he could to buy something for Martin. Often times it turned out to be a silly airport souvenir, but it was a present of some sort. Martin even managed to occassionally have enough extra money to give something back. But without fail, Martin was getting (slightly) spoiled. He didn't need to be bought anything, but Arthur just loved giving.

Any time they all had to sleep in a hotel, Martin would volunteer to be the one to share a room with Arthur. Their relationship wasn't exactly out in the open yet, so he had to come up with some sort of excuse like, "Because, Douglas, I know how a little method to get Arthur to fall asleep quite quickly." So each night, the two of them would share a bed, cuddle up to each other in some way or another, and talk quietly late into the night. Martin was honestly surprised just how much he looked forward to nighttime anymore, how much he wanted to be cuddled up to Arthur. There was an oddly secure feeling found in being wrapped up in the other man's arms, one that he wished he could take home with him. While he was able to be excited about nights spent in a hotel room, when he had to return back to the attic at the agricultural college, he found himself dreading it. If he could just bring his boyfriend over without Carolyn figuring it all out, everything would be perfectly fine. But instead, he found himself missing the warmth of sharing a bed with Arthur.

Then, there were the days that they had lots of free time between flights. When that happened, the two of them would head out and look for somewhere to waste away the day. Or in other words, go out on dates. Amazingly, Martin hadn't made a fool of himself on any of them. Probably because going out with someone he'd worked with for five years took away a lot of the pressure. Arthur knew so much about him already and had decided that yes, he would love to date him. How could he screw anything up now?

But really, only a month had passed. One month. For Martin, it was a bit of a record. He really didn't know how to keep his girlfriends. But Arthur, oh his beloved Arthur saw the world in him. He honestly didn't know what he did to deserve so much affection, but nevertheless, he had it. And really, when Martin had someone like him in his life, what did he need Swiss Airways for?

Yes, he had officially turned down their offer and lied to everyone else that he didn't get the job. There was no way he was going to turn around and leave MJN now. Not when all he really needed was in the form of their ever-cheerful steward.

Currently the two of them had just woken up in their hotel room in D.C., neither of them wanting to leave their bed. Martin actually had little say if he could leave anyway, with Arthur keeping ahold of him in what was probably their favorite position, spooned up together. It was obvious why, Arthur got to give as much love as he could, and Martin got to be showered in that secure feeling he loved so much.

"So what time are we leaving again?" Arthur asked, sleepiness still in his voice, causing Martin to smile.

"At 11:45."

"Oh, we've still got a few hours," he noted, kissing the top of Martin's head. "We don't have to leave just yet."

"Arthur we've only got three and a half hours until we fly. Which means we probably should get up."

"Oh, I was thinking leaving the hotel room, not taking off. But I don't wanna get up."

"Neither do I, love. And it's not like either of us get paid anyway," he said, chuckling to himself. "But Carolyn would be very pissed off if we don't show."

"Yeah, Mum would be mad."  
Arthur reluctantly let go of Martin and crawled out of bed. Without anyone to hold him, Martin found that lying around wasn't nearly as nice as it once was. Actually, it just felt depressing. So that was all the motivation he needed to get up himself as well.

"Do you want to use the shower first?" Arthur asked.

"No, you can this time. I did back in Dublin, it's your turn."

As Arthur was in the shower (and while Martin tried to clear the thoughts of his steward completely nude as he currently was), he decided to clean up the mess around the room. The two of them never did bother with actually putting their clothes away at night before changing into their pajamas. Well, for Arthur it actually was a pair of pajamas, for Martin it was just a tee shirt and some cotton shorts.

And no, the two of them actually hadn't had sex yet. Martin was just absolutely too nervous to try to even take things farther than they were, and Arthur...well, he wasn't sure what was going on in that man's brain to know why he hadn't made the first move yet. But either way, Martin's streak of not getting laid was still continuing on. Surprisingly though, he didn't mind. There was something quite nice about the way they were right now.

That didn't mean he still didn't want to take things further eventually. If you would've told Martin Crieff at least two months ago that he would find Arthur Shappey to be quite sexy, he would've laughed in your face. He guessed that it was something that happened when you started falling for another person, you couldn't help but find them attactive.

And Arthur was truly handsome. With his wide, warm brown eyes and bright smile that completely lit up a room, Martin was actually surprised he hadn't realized his feelings sooner.

That was the thing. Martin was certain that he'd had feelings for the steward for a long while before that fateful kiss. Why else would he have done it? He just had no idea they were even there until that moment, until he realized Arthur was all the reason he needed to stay at MJN.

As Martin finished grabbing all their clothes, he realized Arthur left his outfit for today out here. Including his pants. He rolled his eyes, but yet had to smile also. Arthur forgetting things was never going to change.

A few minutes later, Arthur had poked his head out of the bathroom. "Skip?"

"Looking for these?" Martin asked, holding up his clothes.

"How did you know?"

Martin just laughed as he walked over and handed Arthur what he needed.

"Thanks, Skip. Oh, just letting you know the water pressure isn't very brilliant. In fact, it's quite awful."

"Really? Ohhh, these hotels your mum books. Normally I wouldn't complain, after all I live in an attic-"

"Which is _brilliant_!" he heard from behind the door as Arthur got dressed.

"You're probably the only one who thinks that. But I live in an attic and even I don't have problems with the shower like that."

"All right, your turn, Skip!" Arthur announced as he walked out dressed for the day. But his hair on the other hand...

"Don't you want to blow dry your hair first?"

"Nah, I'll just do it out here. It's time for you to get squeaky clean!" he said, pushing Martin into the bathroom. As the door shut behind him, all Martin could do was laugh. The two of them certainly made for an interesting pair.

"Wait," he called back out.

"What?"

"I'm going to need my clothes."

He laughed as Arthur tried to toss them from across the room but instead they just flew everywhere. "You tried, love."

When waiting around in the lobby for Douglas to come downstairs, the two of them had to try to avoid letting any sign of "Hey, we spent the night cuddling with each other!" slip through. For Martin, it stressed him out. For Arthur, it was all a matter of just keeping his mouth preoccupied. "Wasn't the World War II Memorial _brilliant_ , Skip? They had little waterfalls! And there was a fountain!"

Yes, in their spare time yesterday they took a tour around all the momuments of Washington, D.C. Why not, it was free, it was a nice little piece of American history, and Arthur was always impressed by such things.

"Remember when we came back around at night to see the Korean Memorial? I swear, the statues looked a million times more creepy then," Martin added.

"You thought so too? I didn't wanna say anything there, because you've got to respect the dead, but I thought those statues reminded me of Weeping Angels."

"You weren't blinking that whole time then, were you?"

"Nope, not a single blink. I wish I knew how to properly wink though."

"Why's that?"

"Well, in umm...Stone and Flesh I think was the episode, Amy managed to hold our not blinking for a long time by just winking."

"That's actually clever. I really do need to start watching Doctor Who with you."  
"Really?"

"Yeah, I think it could be fun."

" _Brilliant_!"

"Oh, and there's Douglas. Took you long enough."

"Unlike _Sir_ who insists upon getting up at ungodly hours, and unlike Arthur who's just naturally a morning person, _I_ like to wake up at a managable time, thank you."

Martin chose to ignore the First Officer's comments and just grab his stuff to go. He had a plane to fly, and he honestly couldn't wait to get started.

\----

Today's flight was from D.C. to London, carrying some government officials to deal with some international relations. Martin was concerned that Carolyn wasn't with them this time. No, she insisted upon staying back in Fitton. Now, Martin adored Arthur. He really, really did. He wouldn't go so far as to say he loved him just yet, but close enough. But leaving Arthur in charge of stewarding some very important people without his mother's stern but guiding hand was probably going to guarantee that they would never fly MJN again. So Martin tried to keep an ear open for what was going on in the cabin and hope that Arthur wasn't mucking things up.

In fact, Martin had decided once they were in the air long enough that he was going to go back and "use the loo," but rather just pass through to be sure things were going along swimmingly. Now, it wasn't that Martin felt that he had to be his babysitter. No, far from that. But he knew how people usually treated his boyfriend when he made a mess out of a situation. He did not want Arthur to be insulted for being "stupid" or "idiotic" by people who just didn't realize that he was far from it. Maybe a little slow on the pick-up, but when Arthur understood something, he seemed to understand it better than anyone.

When Martin finally got around to sneaking back to see that everything was okay, he was pleased to see it was.

"Hello, Skip!" Arthur waved as he was handing one of them, the only lady on flight, a cup of tea.

Oh, there was that beautiful smile. The one that made Martin just want to kiss him again and again and again...But doing so right now would not be a good idea.

"Good afternoon, Arthur. Just, passing through," he said, trying to shake the thoughts of snogging him away.

"Oh, do you need to-" Martin cut him off with a quick stare. No need to share any details with the passengers.

When Martin had to pass through again he almost crashed right into Arthur as he was coming out of the galley. "Oh, sorry, Arthur."

"It's all right, Skip."

The two of them then proceeded to keep on wanting to move in the same direction to get past each other. "Arthur, stand still," he said, grabbing ahold of his shoulders. Martin pushed him over to his left, and then managed to go though the opening he'd created. Again, they made for an interesting pair.

"Didn't know _taking a piss_ could make one so _cheery_ ," Douglas commented as Martin walked back into the flight deck.

Martin hadn't even realized he had been smiling. "Sorry, I-I got a little caught up with trying to navigate around Arthur in the cabin. Guess I found it, well, kinda amusing." Martin could swear he was blushing, and was surprised Douglas wasn't calling him out on it.

"Haven't heard any screams back there, so he's doing pretty well for himself," Douglas commented.

"Yeah, I'm impressed."

"You must be pretty proud of your steward."  
"I am, I mean he's doing-- _m-my_ steward?" Martin immediately paled. He blew it somewhere, hadn't he?

"Well isn't it obvious?"

"Oh God, I was trying so hard to make sure you wouldn't pick up on it!"

"What?"

"I knew if you knew that you'd just tease me forever about it, and I really don't deserve to be teased just because I think Arthur is an amazing guy and-"

"Martin, I was just making _a joke_ , you're _really with him_?"

"You were..." Martin slammed his head into his hands. "Now I've done it."

"Well. Congratulations."

"You-you're congratulating me?"

"You said it yourself, you really shouldn't be teased. Sure Arthur isn't what _I'd_ call a catch, but if he is for _you_ , then that's what matters. To each his own."

"Well, thank you."

"How long has this gone on?"

"About a month."

"You mean about the time you got your notification that you _didn't make it_ into Swiss Airways?"

"Yeah...why?"

"Nothing, it's just, didn't I tell you whatever happened would be for the best? If you would've been accepted..."

"I wouldn't be with Arthur. Yes, you were right. As usual."

"I didn't have to drag that out you this time. Arthur must really be mellowing you."

"Oh, shut up."

Later on during the flight, Martin couldn't help but beam when he heard, "Hello, chaps! Need anything?" Even just the sound of Arthur's voice was enough to put him in a state of bliss.

"No thank you," Douglas answered.

"I could use a refill, love," Martin replied, allowing himself the freedom to be able to say that around his First Officer.

"Skip!" Arthur said in his best scolding voice, which really came out more as a surprised whining. "Not around Douglas!"

"He already figured it out, Arthur."

"Oh."

"Yes, and on that note, cheers to the happy couple. But I do have some requests." Martin became immediately paranoid. "Please refrain from kissing each other in my presence. If I happen to walk in on you, that's a different matter and couldn't have been prevented. But please cease and desist for the rest of my duration in your company. Do not share any overly personal details about the current state of your relationship. As in, if the two of you were caught in the throes of wild pleasure last night, keep it to yourself. Lastly, I'd rather prefer it if you abstained from coming to me for any relationship advice. Not that I'm not a _terrific_ resource in dating knowledge, but surely the both of you would wind up seeking me, and I can't assist the both of you at once."

"Right, got it," Martin said, also making a mental note to remember to tell Arthur this all over again when they got home, in much more simplistic language.

"I'll go get you more coffee, Skip. Little less milk and sugar this time?"

"How do you always know exactly what I want?"

"Well, I am your boyfriend."

Martin couldn't help but smile.

\----

When they landed in London, it was late. Very late. So late in fact that Martin seriously wondered why their passengers insisted upon an 11:45 departure anyways. They better have had nothing to do here in England the next day. At least not anything early...

"I wish we didn't have to go directly back to Fitton," Arthur commented after they'd all left off G-ERTI.

"Why's that?" Martin asked.

"Because I want to go out to eat."

"Yes, because the restaurants are still open at this time of night," Douglas chimed in.

"Oh, right, I forgot about the time change."

"Arthur, don't worry, you'll be home in no time and then you can raid your kitchen and make whatever you want," Martin said. "And I know how much you like coming up with your own creations."

"Yeah, that's true. It always is fun! And usually quite good."

"I do have to agree with you there."  
Douglas stared at Martin questioningly. "Arthur's culinary attempts are actually _good_?"

"They don't look it, but he knows what he's doing. Damn, now I want to ask Carolyn if she doesn't mind me coming over."

"You want me to make you something too?" Arthur asked excitedly.

"Maybe while you're asking Carolyn you can break the-"

"No. She will kill me, Douglas, I'm sure you'd realize."

"I'm honestly surprised she hasn't weasled it out of Arthur yet."

"I am too!" Arthur piped up. "Mum usually knows pretty quickly if I've got a girlfriend or anything. Maybe that ability doesn't work when I've got a boyfriend instead," he said, nudging Martin on the word "boyfriend."

"Well, either way, we've got to fly home," Martin said, almost reluctantly. Home meant being alone. Maybe he could somehow convince Carolyn to let him stay the night? No, that'd never work. Not in a million years.

When they got back to Fitton shortly afterwards, Douglas immediately cleared the plane. Naturally, he wasn't going to stick around for anything. Arthur took this moment of opportunity to give Martin a quick goodnight kiss.

"Wait a second," Martin said, grabbing Arthur by the arm. "You came here yourself in your car, didn't you?"

"Well, yes."

"And it is quite late. Late enough that you think Carolyn might be in bed?"

"Are you thinking of sneaking over to my place?"

"Perhaps..."

"Oh, Skip, that's a little naughty, isn't it?"

"Woah, Arthur, I didn't mean sneak over for sex, if we were gonna-"

"No, I didnt, I meant it's just a naughty thing to do."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Okay, awkward moment over, do you want to head over to your place?"

\---

"All right, I'm going to go inside, and I'm going to check to see if Mum is asleep," Arthur told Martin once they got there. "Sure I do really have my own section of the house, but the kitchen doesn't belong to that, and well, isn't that what you''re here for?"

"Okay, you can go do that, and I'll wait out there."

Martin started to wonder what possessed him to want to sneak into the house anyways. He surely hoped Carolyn was a heavy sleeper, because if tonight was going to be anything like the nights in their hotel rooms, there would be a lot of laughter involved.

After what felt like almost an eternity (then again, knowing Arthur as well as he did, he was probably tip-toeing his entire way throughout the house), he heard an "All clear, Skip!" and rushed inside. "Come along, Crieff!" he said, grabbing ahold of Martin's hand to lead him into the kitchen.

"Crieff?"

"I was trying to imitate the Doctor. He always says, 'Come along, Pond!' to his companion, Amy."  
"I really need to start watching it. All the references you make go right over my head."

"I should probably stop making them, too. But anyways, this is the kitchen!"

"You've got quite a lot of space to work with."

"Yeah...Hey, I've got a _brilliant_ idea!"

"What's that?"

"You can help me make our late-night snack!"

Martin couldn't help but feel honored. Arthur's adventures in the culinary arts were special to him. To be so willing to let him join in, that was the sign of true trust, affection...love.

"Arthur, that is a brilliant idea."

"Okay, want to make something new, or something tried and true?"

"Tried and true. That way I can take the recipe back to the college with me."

"Skip, are you treally trying to take my ideas?"

"No, that's not what I meant!"

"Nah, it's okay. You're the only person that actually likes what I make, and you're my boyfriend. You should be allowed to make these yourself."

Martin couldn't help himself from just pulling Arthur close and kissing him. Everything his steward did was just perfect.

"So, umm, what recipe do you want to try?" Arthur asked as he got his breath back.

"I don't know. How about...oh, what was that thing you made with Toblerones last week?"

"Oh, Toblerone Delight? With the celery and the grapes?"

"That's it! Ohh, that was so good!"

"I even surprised myself that time," Arthur said as he started rummaging through the fridge. "Uh oh. We don't seem to have any grapes left, Skip."

"Can't we substitute another fruit?"

"Like what?"

"Well," Martin started walking over to the fridge, "Let's see what you've got. Umm...blueberries might work, what do you think?"

"I think that's _brilliant_!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Mum usually ends up grabbing the tart boxes of blueberries for some reason, I don't know why, it's not like she's doing it on purpose, and I think that'll be a good grape substitute."

Once all the ingredients were gathered, Arthur went through a quick yet thorough run-through of how to make his signature Toblerone Delight. He was absolutely enthusastic during the entire set of directions, even more so than usual, and Martin couldn't help but feel happy about it. Arthur wasn't lying, Martin really was the only person who seemed to like his creations. The pilot did tend to think that was because living on such cheap food constantly meant he'd like pretty much anything put in front of him anymore. But maybe, just maybe, it was a sign. An interesting little sign that the two of them were just made for each other.

While actually making their snack, Arthur started singing what was currently his favorite song, and even though he strayed off-key from time to time, Martin found it absolutely beautiful. It was Arthur, everything about him was.

At one point when sticking the blueberries onto the melted toblerones that were coating the celery sticks, one flew out of Martin's hand and right into Arthur's face. When Martin spied the confused look on his love's face, he fell into a fit of laughter. Soon Arthur was laughing right along with him.

After the two of them had finished their snack, Martin noticed Arthur didn't look as cheery as usual. "What's wrong?" he said, scootching his chair over closer.

"I don't want you to go home yet."

"Me neither. But Carolyn would certainly catch us if I spent the night with you. In fact, I'm surprised we haven't woken her up yet with my bad luck and all."

"Why are we so afraid to tell Mum? Douglas found out and he was perfectly okay with it."

"I...I don't know."

"Maybe we should. If she knew, then we wouldn't have to sneak around anymore, and I bet she'd let you come over whenever you like, and that would be _brilliant_!"

"Maybe we will. Not now of course, but...in the morning?"

Arthur lit up bright at that suggestion. "You mean you're staying the night?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing."

" _Brilliant_!"

Martin laughed before telling Arthur that he needed to go get his bags from the van so he had something more comfortable than his pilot's uniform to sleep in.

That night, just before he fell asleep, wrapped up in Arthur's ever-secure arms, he heard his steward say three little words that changed his life forever. "I love you."

Martin couldn't believe it. He may have dated a few girls in his life time, but none of them, not even once, gave him an "I love you." Hearing it from Arthur was the most beautifully brilliant sound in the world.

"I love you, too."

" _Brilliant_."

**Author's Note:**

> More to possibly come, just give me a while. My muse is fried.
> 
> And since no one will be able to realize this was taken from a Michael Nesmith song, I better just tell you. The title is a Michael Nesmith song. :P


End file.
